


The Witch of Avery's Cat Cafe

by McNuggets



Series: Bullshit and Shenanigans [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Demons, M/M, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:54:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29565009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McNuggets/pseuds/McNuggets
Summary: An island vacation turns into a rescue mission as Kenny becomes the target of a demon.
Relationships: Kenny Arellano/Damien Duvatt, Kenny Arellano/Rhys Evrett
Series: Bullshit and Shenanigans [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2172003
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Min wanted me to do a spinoff about Kenny.
> 
> This is for my friends, you crazy bastards.

The moment the girl was born, there was something different about her. She was three when she began making sparks with her hands, and with the knowledge that she had made something cool she had run to her mother. That was the day she learned that she was a witch.

“But you shouldn’t tell anyone you’re a witch.” She had said, “We live in secret. Normal people don’t like us, they’ll want to hurt us.”

At a young age she learned that witches weren’t accepted into today’s society, even though society became so modern. In school she learned that the people in history would burn and drown witches, and that witches kept themselves hidden for a reason.

She was nine when they had moved in a new town, a highly religious town in the middle of the country. She realized soon that being different was frowned upon. An accident lead to years of gossip and bullying, and while she wanted to badly, the girl was discouraged in using her magic to solve her problem. It only became worse when her mother would drink her frustrations away, taking it out on the girl every night while she was tormented every day. Her father wasn’t any help, a hardworking man who worked late and knew hardly anything of what went on when he was away. The only thing she could do was endure it, and without anyone to go to, she was left alone to herself.

The girl was left with eight more years of hell, and at the first chance of freedom she took it, packing her bags and leaving the first chance she had. She left to the city, somewhere populated and diverse, where people didn’t look over your shoulder and whisper behind your back. The girl didn’t care for college, deciding that working and living her life was worth more than going back to schooling. She wanted to continue with her magic, to learn more than what her mother allowed her to know. The girl would find a place to practice her magic after a month of searching, discovering a hole-in-the-wall magic shop in an alleyway of the city where she also found a job. From there the young witch learned how to use her magic, how to create potions, how alchemy worked, everything that she didn’t know as a child.

The girl, who was once forced to subdue her own talents for the sake of being normal, suddenly flourished like a tree full of cherry blossoms, their breathtaking beauty trapped in the dead space of time as to not die out but only grow and become even more vibrant. With the ability to work her magic she created a never-ending garden in her own apartment, ivy twining the shelves and overtaking the windows as irises were set to bloom, mere houseplants thriving in even the winter months as the warmth from within carried their beauty onto the next season.

With her magic growing, the girl began to look into things, other things that interested her and her alone. She researched heavy magic, for she had wants, needs and desires that she was not allowed to have when she was still younger. She had a more explorative mind, she wanted to dabble in things she couldn’t obtain before.

Though at that time, the magic shop had been forced to relocate due to renovations onto the two buildings it sat between. It left the girl without a place to work, so the girl began to search for her next adventure. She would find it in a small cafe that had just been established by a man fresh out of college. The man was a peculiar man, seemingly unapproachable and moody yet wide-eyed and hopeful. The shop’s name? Avery’s Cafe.

It seemed that experience wasn’t a matter to Avery Lycroft. He didn’t want people who were already experienced, he wanted fresh slates that he could train personally, people that he could trust into doing the job as he wanted them to do it, not how another company had trained them. She was perfect for the job.

There was something about working with the man that would come to inspire the girl. His no-nonsense attitude and the way he didn’t take any bullshit. He was so strong, she wanted to be strong just like that. For the first time in her life she found someone to emulate, someone who she wanted to learn from. She would spend half-a-year learning to not be so sensitive or like how she was before, naive and a doormat. She would never tell Avery that he was making her stronger just by being himself, her true personality would start to appear. Though, within those six months her other coworkers would file in and out, and Avery would let them go because they thought they could take him for a ride. He somehow knew when he was being lied to, and if he didn’t then he caught onto the scheme quickly. It wasn’t long until the girl was slowly faced with new coworkers, though she knew not to get attached.

The first was a woman named Willow, who wanted solely a night shift because she preferred sleeping in the day. Looks were deceiving, as she looked to be a child, but was actually just fresh out of college. She took no bullshit either, and her voice could strike fear into the hearts of others. The girl felt like she needed the woman to like her, for her authoritative personalty was to be admired.

The second was a man named Alexander, who was a college student in business. He was kind and considerate, but moreso acted like the conscience that Avery needed on so many occasions. He was able to act as Avery in his stead, dispersing orders and commands without batting an eye. It was obvious that this man became the assistant manager so quickly.

The third was a man who was brought in specifically by Avery’s sister, Runa. His name was Luke, one of the employees of Runa’s Animal Rescue. He was there just because Runa wanted to keep an eye on her brother without having to be there. He learned everything quickly and became a valuable worker despite being a spy for his sister.

The true employees of Avery’s Cafe would continue to come in. A man named Isiah who was trying to become a cop. A woman named Jaiden who had a mouth that could shoot anyone down, Isiah being her main target.

Then there was a man named Rhys, someone the girl would gravitate to immediately, a man who would become more than a friend to the girl and would help her with her problems, a friend she would come to have discoveries with, and a loss of innocence that would be treasured.

It was around this time that the girl felt like she wanted a change. She wanted to do something different. A whim of her own, she would use magic on herself for the first time. Something as simple as hair color, right? It wasn’t that obscene. All it took was some grape hyacinths for the color. Any color was easy as long as you had the flowers for them, and she had a rainbow of selections on the roof of her building.

Apply the potion to her hair and… it went from brown to blue just as easily as she applied it.

Changing one’s self was a journey, one that she had opened the doors to. An attitude change and hair color was a start, but she wanted to go bigger. She wanted to shed everything that was her past. Though her biggest change would come from a botched potion that she intended for someone else. It blew up in her face, actually, leaving her skin a strange shade of purple. She had to call in sick on that day, and the following night she experienced a kind of pain that she’s never felt before.

Who knew that your body morphing would be painful? A sleepless night brought her to a morning where her chest and groin was aching. On the upside, the purple hue was gone from her face…but…

Her breasts went missing, and instead of a vagina she was now sporting a real life penis.

Well _that_ was different.

The girl didn’t know what to do after that, or how to revert it back. In fact, this was an accident that seemed more difficult to fix than any other harmless accident she had gone through. How was she supposed to explain this if anyone were to see it? How was she going to explain this to Rhys? She did the only thing she could do, wear baggy hoodies and purchase mens pants so she could at least get through the day without anyone noticing that her D cup had become nonexistent. Luckily, her dear friend didn’t say anything.

A month into the change, though, the girl found that she didn’t seem to mind what had happened. By the second month she stopped doing any sort of research to change that plan, opting instead to go big or go home. She had wanted a change, right? This was more than a change. This was… the biggest change she could have.

She needed to keep up appearances, however, so she put in for a three-month leave at the cafe.

By the end of three months the humble witch girl had become a new person, a sarcastic man named Kenny.

By the time he returned to work, Kenny Arellano hadn’t felt happier.

♥♥♥

There were new faces at the cafe once Kenny had entered. A pair of friends named Shelby and Renzo. Shelby was a college student with a focus on art design. She had been looking for a calm place to work and fell in love with Avery’s cafe. Renzo was…special. A man who was a master at arithmetic and science, but he was almost illiterate. Kenny watched him read off the menu three times trying to translate the Italian desserts before giving up and telling the customers we have ‘coffee cake’ when it actually said ‘tiramisu’.

Then there was a man named Thomas, someone who was calm most of the time, Kenny never saw anyone calmer than this man. It was like problems rolled off of him and he could make a quip or a joke and have everyone laughing. He was a big fan of puns. He went to college with a major in music, and got along well with Avery since the owner played violin. Hell, Shelby also played violin, the woman on Avery like a hawk once she knew what he could do.

Kenny seemed to fall back into the flow without any hiccups, after the initial shock of how different he looked now than before. It was a shame he couldn’t let them on his little secret, given what happened the last time he accidentally let it slipped. Not even Rhys knew, the one person she was closer to than the others. The last thing he wanted was another incident where he was left bearing the scarlet letter and made into a pariah by his peers.

No, Kenny, that was the past, the past didn’t matter anymore.

Working at the cafe brought Kenny something that he couldn’t get anywhere else. It was almost the semblance of family that he never had growing up. Willow was like a mother, scolding the ‘children’ when they were caught doing something they shouldn’t while Avery was the ‘father’, a man who commanded respect out of all of them but was kind and understanding to those who needed help. Renzo, Shelby, Jaiden, Thomas, even Isiah were like dysfunctional siblings. All of them got along and fit well together like colorful sets of legos from different kits. Kenny, no matter how much he got along with the others, sometimes felt like the odd one out despite fitting with them just as well as they fit with each other.

Kenny was just the odd one out, it wasn’t hard to understand. Being the sole witch among normal humans, someone that derived magic from nature and could do just about anything.

It was when a young man named Elijah came along that Kenny felt the weight of his talents, a man that had been cursed by one of his own and been held captive by an older man because of it. He knew he had a duty to set things right. Telling Avery, Elijah, and Avery’s sister about what he was may have been a gamble, but he had known Avery long enough to know that the man didn’t talk behind others backs. He was straight-forward.

Removing that curse from Elijah wasn’t hard, though what happened was that Kenny removed the cat entirely from Elijah, separating the two of them. It seems that the witch that made the curse had used a cat’s spirit to put inside whoever was unlucky enough to pick up that cursed item. Elijah didn’t know that Kenny kept the cat’s spirit, not like he would be able to see him. Kenny was probably the only one who could see the cat’s spirit. He didn’t think anything of it, it was a cat spirit, what harm could it do?

It wasn't like the cat spirit would just feed itself into his mouth when Kenny was asleep, right?

Right?

When Kenny had woke the next day something felt wrong. For one thing he was able to hear the traffic outside so well that he wondered if he had left the window open. Upon inspection of his room he discovered that no, he had not left any windows open. Upon further inspection he noticed something astounding, which was that his sight had become better overnight. His glasses were off and he was seeing more than 20/20.

Yes, something was...

Kenny reached up to feel his ears, slowly moving his hands to the top of his head when his normal ears were absent. The ears twitching on the top of his head weren't the ears he fell asleep with. His face slowly changed to abject horror as he scrambled out of the bed and hurried into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, he was able to see that he had cat-ears, and he could practically feel the tail under his pajama bottoms.

“What the fuck happened to me?” He squawked.

He reached down to grasp the waistband of his pants and shoved them down, a tail slipping out. As of right now it was puffed out, matching Kenny’s emotions over this entire thing. He started to notice, as he looked into the mirror, that his hazel eyes had slitted pupils. This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all. Moreover, his cat ears matched the hue of his natural hair color.

He stumbled out of the bathroom, managing to pull up his pants as he began to pace his apartment. He looked from his phone to the window, then to the clock. How was he supposed to deal with this? It was a good thing that he didn't have a shift today or else he would have to figure out how to hide this. Elijah made it look so simple. Oh fuck. Elijah. The cat spirit.

Kenny’s eyes roamed the apartment, looking for any traces of the cat spirit, only to find none. So this was why he looked like this. He groaned, raising his hands to grasp his hair. How was he going to fix this?

His eyes widened after a sudden thought, the magic shop! Kenny went about trying to look for the shop’s contact information, tearing up his apartment until he found the business card he needed. He grabbed his phone, dialing the number frantically.

Only to find it disconnected. Kenny cursed under his breath, setting his phone down and thinking. He was a witch right? He could easily fix his own problems. Though while he was a witch, he was the only one he knew about because his mother left the community she had been raised in due to her own problems. For a witch his age, he hadn't gone through any proper training and had done everything himself. He wasn't well taught, mostly flying by the seat of his pants. He couldn't go to ask his mother about it, the last time they talked was ten years ago and he did not want to have that talk with her, much less try and convince her that he was who he said he was.

He let out a frustrated sigh, heading to his computer and opening it up. He thought about it. Witches had been out of the public eye for centuries, remaining private for their own safety. He had recalled his old boss saying that their kind had constructed their own part of the web...but what was it again? Door...door...open door...secret door....magic door!

The magic door was what he needed to start with. The web extension itself ended with .mdr, all Kenny needed was a search engine.

As he was typing, his phone began to ring. Kenny grimaced, reaching for his phone and seeing the number to the cafe. He held in his annoyance and pulled on a fake smile, answering it. “Yo.”

_“You’re needed in the cafe.”_ Said Avery.

“Isn’t this my day off?”

There was an audible sigh, like Avery also knew this, _“You’ll find out when you get here.”_

The line went dead after that and Kenny let out a long, drawn-out sigh. How was he supposed to fix this if he couldn’t fix this?

He slowly stood up, thinking. He could just curl his tail around his waist and that would take care of his pants, right? Is that how Elijah did it? He wore shorts so that must be how he did it. As for the ears…

He went over to his closet, picking out one of his hoodies. The absence of human ears would be noticed if he didn’t cover them somehow.

He did everything else he was supposed to do, brush his teeth, comb his …okay he couldn’t really comb his hair with those ears in the way. So he left it at that, grabbing a yogurt tube out of the fridge and sucking it up quickly before getting his keys.

Here’s to hoping he could get past inspection.

♥♥♥

When Kenny arrived, the sign was turned to closed. He stopped, considering it for a moment before going in anyway. He could see everyone who worked at Avery’s Cat Cafe sitting in the cafe itself, even Willow and Rhys, the blonde man standing in the corner of the room whose eyes went onto Kenny once he entered. The two exchanged smiles.

“Hey Kenny.” Renzo greeted him, diverting Kenny’s attention from Rhys, “Where’re your glasses?”

Kenny raised his hand to his eyes, realizing that he forgot something. Shit. “Um…trying out contacts.” He hoped he could lie, though from the looks of it everyone didn’t seem to think anything about it. “What’s going on?”

“Is everyone here?” Runa’s voice came from the back room, the woman snacking on a muffin while even Elijah took a seat on Avery’s lap. No one dared to say anything. “Yes, so given the recent events of the past few weeks, I feel that everyone needs to be thanked for their hard work.”

“You mean the part where we changed the cafe or the part where we got kidnapped by goons?” Willow asked, hugging a pillow. “Because both were hard work.”

“Willow isn’t pulling any punches, wow.” Isiah said from behind Jaiden.

“Well you didn’t get your ass picked up by strong chonky men did you? No? Then shut the fuck up.” Jaiden folded her arms, “Stupid.”

Runa kept her smile, seeing how Elijah looked bothered by it, since it was because of him that it happened, “I feel that things had happened that were out of our control, but you all deserve a break because of it.”

“We just upgraded the cafe and you’re asking for us to close down now?” Avery questioned.

“Let me get to it!” Runa cried out, “As you all know, spring break is coming up.”

There were a flood of murmurs, and Avery hooked his arms around Elijah’s waist, “What does this have to do with anything?”

“I’m saying, everyone will be free for spring break, yeah?” She pointed to Thomas, “Yeah?”

Thomas perked his head up from looking at his phone, “Sorry what? Free for spring break, yeah sure I have nothing to do.”

“Me neither.” Shelby added.

“Am I free for spring break? Why the fuck do I wanna do anything with you losers—kidding, yeah cool I’m down.” Renzo leaned back in his chair, “So what’re we gonna do? Oh! We should hit up that paintball range! I’ll beat the fuck out of all of you whores!”

“Bet, I’ll make you cry.” Jaiden grinned.

“I think Jaiden will make all of us cry.” Isiah said honestly, “Then I’ll bring out my super secret combo moves!”

“Don’t, I’ll literally fucking bawl like a bitch.” Jaiden insisted.

Kenny took up the wall next to Rhys, instinctively leaning his head against the other’s broad shoulder. Rhys smiled, the man standing at least a head taller than Kenny, his amber eyes under wire-framed glasses while his hair reached down to his mid-back. Kenny sighed, closing his eyes and resting against the taller male, the man beside him enjoying every second of the intimacy.

Runa giggled, “Paintball range sounds good and all, but I was thinking something like a beachside getaway.”

“What is this, an anime filler episode?” Kenny questioned, “Are we going to light fireworks and break melons on the beach and camp out in a tent?”

“It does sound kinda campy.” Thomas grinned, “Get it?”

“What makes you think that I have the time and patience to go to the beach and babysit these ten—“

“I haven’t been to the beach before.” Elijah interrupted Avery easily, looking at him with doe eyes. “I would love to go swimming… ♡”

Avery felt all the fight leave him, “Who’s going to run the cafe?”

“Whipped.” Willow muttered from under her pillow.

“Extremely whipped.” Shelby agreed.

Runa’s smile became a grin, “Never fear, Runa’s Animal Rescue is here!” She made a fist with her hands and thumped her chest, “Me and my trusty employees will handle the cafe.”

Avery looked skeptical. “None of you know how to use the machinery.”

“That’s why we’re here.” Luke and Alexander stood up from their spot and went over to Runa, “Runa put me to the task in training the others, and since I work for both of you I volunteered to stay back.”

“And I’m going to take up the managerial role while you’re away.” Alexander added.

“So we’re going to the beach.” Isiah nodded, “Wait, what beach are we going to?”

“I think I have an idea…” Avery sighed.

“A private beach off the coast of Paradise Cove, owned by the Lycroft family, it’s our summer home. Big enough for nine extra guests.” Runa pulled out her phone and brought up a photo, getting out from behind the counter to show it to everyone.

“Oh we’re gonna live like the rich people for a week.” Isiah grinned as he saw the photo.

“Yeah they’re gonna take one look at our poor ass and kick us out.” Renzo commented, “What are we? Three blacks, three Mexicans, an asian and three white people? They’re gonna think we’re the help and put us to work while Shubble, Avery, and Rhys over there sit by the poolside and sip fancy drinks.”

“So you’re going to serve me, huh?” Rhys whispered to Kenny.

Kenny facepalmed, trying to hide his blush. “Shut.”

“I think I’d actually be sitting with Shel and Avery,” Thomas said then, “Asians aren’t really ‘help’.”

“Nah, they’ll think you’re the cook, Thomas.” Renzo argued.

“Not all asians can cook—you know what? I’m not gonna argue about this.”

“ _Moving on!_ ” Avery shouted, finally looking at Runa, “I have no choice in this, do I?”

“I already told dad you’re renting out the house and borrowing the transportation.” Runa smiled, “All you need to do is pack, you’re leaving tomorrow.”

Kenny didn’t start getting excited as the rest of them did, bringing up his phone to do a search on Paradise Cove. It was next to a small village that was made into a tourist destination for whoever wanted to use its beaches. The beach however…

“This isn’t anywhere near our fucking city. It’s an island!” Kenny cried out as he straightened up from Rhys’s shoulder, “This an island that’s three states away! How are we going to get three states away and onto an island!”

Everyone stopped talking, looking from Kenny to Avery and over to Runa, who just kept smiling.

♥♥♥

“Man this is boojee as hell.” Jaiden called out, lowering her shades to stare at the private plane that was marked with Avery’s father’s company. The others only stood there, also staring at it and agreeing that yes, Jaiden was right.

“And we don’t mind that this is some anime filler episode?” Kenny frowned, having covered his ear problem with a beanie. _I shouldn’t be here,_ he thought.

“Fuck no, I wanna see how good it is to be rich.” Renzo dropped his bag to Avery’s side, “Ay yo does your dad like men?”

Avery was very, very uncomfortable. “Why?”

“Would he be interested in being a sugar daddy?” Renzo was smiling, and Avery suddenly wanted to punch him.

Kenny went over to Renzo and steered him away from Avery, “He’s going to beat you up.”

“I can take him.”

“Renzo,” Isiah placed a hand on his shoulder, “Avery is the type of person to throw you out of the plane while it’s still in the air.”

“Bet!”

Shelby rolled her eyes, smacking Renzo with her violin case as she walked over to Avery, “Are you okay?”

Avery glanced at her, the black cloud of anxiety hovering over his head. “Runa knows how much I hate flaunting my dad’s wealth and here she plans a vacation on our family’s private beach using my dad’s private jet.”

The blonde nodded, slowly understanding his situation. Avery wasn’t the type of person who threw his money around. Runa, however, took full advantage of her father’s money and what it had to offer. She could see how he hated the attention.

“Everyone knows you’re not like that.” Shelby said consolingly, putting a supportive hand on his shoulder.

“Exactly!” Jaiden came up to Avery’s right, “Everyone knows you’re not one of those people, but I’m still gonna bully you and your boojee-ass sister.”

Avery didn’t answer, feeling Elijah squeeze his hand. He looked down at his boyfriend, who only smiled at him in return, a smile that held secretive words to it.

“No sex on the plane.” Kenny said as if he could hear those secrets.

Shelby whipped around to slap Kenny’s arm, “Don’t ruin my chance to see some hanky panky.”

“Keep it in your pants Shel.” Thomas chided.

“You don’t understand!” Her voice was soft, but it held some kind of passionate fire to it, “I’ve seen Elijah wearing those outfits, I know what goes on up there. I want to see it!”

Renzo looked at her oddly, “Why?”

“Drawing references!” Her eyes held a flame to them.

Willow had already gone into the plane by now, wanting to try and sleep since she was up so late. Kenny didn’t linger, getting in the plane and sitting in the back. He still didn’t think he should be here, he should be searching for another witch to help him out of his situation. He looked back at the search result again, the island and where they were to be staying. Something about it seemed familiar, at least the name. He barely recalled why it sounded so familiar to him.

He only looked up when he heard movement, his attention going to the man with hair as long and blonde as Shelby’s, Rhys saying nothing as he picked the seat across from Kenny after securing his luggage.

“So you’re all set for this, huh?” Kenny asked, half-wanting to stay home. When Rhys looked his way Kenny directed his attention back to his phone.

“A tropical island sounded curious, I thought that a little r and r would be nice.” The blonde answered, stepping over to Kenny and reaching for the other’s phone, lowering it in the man’s hands. “Are you alright?”

Kenny looked up at him, “Hm?”

“You’ve been off.”

The man smiled nervously, “What do you mean?”

“Well first off you switched to contacts without telling me, usually you’d ask for my opinion about that.” He started, “Also, you don’t wear beanies.” He reached up to pick at Kenny’s head before Kenny ducked his head away. Rhys watched curiously as Kenny’s hands went to cover his head.

“Ah…I thought I’d do it as a surprise.” He said quickly, “So, what do you think?”

Rhys thought about it, leaning down to look directly into Kenny’s eyes. Kenny panicked, knowing they looked like a cat’s eye, though whether Rhys knew or not, he didn’t say anything. Kenny lowered his hands from his beanie. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, their noses nearly touching, but before Rhys could act on an impulse, the voices from outside made him lean away. Rhys looked bothered, giving a side-eye to the entrance of the plane before going back to his seat.

The noise continued to pick up as everyone began to board the plane. When it was time to take off, Kenny put his phone away and sighed, only looking at the magazine that Rhys was now reading. It was a cooking magazine, and soon Kenny realized that he didn't eat this morning as he was too troubled to think about food at that moment.

Eventually, Isiah took out his phone to play some music, something that Renzo called ‘bumpin’ and demanded it was turned up. Willow had given up on trying to nap as Thomas and Jaiden began to bob their heads to the song. Avery couldn't do anything, sitting there as Elijah was whispering something into his ear that was effectively keeping Avery where he was and focused on whatever the man was saying, while Shelby had put on earbuds to drown out that music with her own. Rhys looked annoyed, but he held his tongue.

Kenny couldn't join in on the fun, too concerned with his own problem. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, trying to drown out the music with the sound of his own breathing. Eventually it worked and he felt himself drift off.

He dreamt of a man in black. A dark-skinned man with blazing red eyes and hair as black as obsidian. The hair was long, tamed into a braid. He was singing in another language, something he couldn't understand. It was like Kenny was on the outside looking in from a mirror, his spirit watching as the man, sitting on a throne of stone, continued to sing. He gradually stood up, and Kenny could make out that his pants were leather while his shirt was a blood red silk. The man soon seemed to realize that he was being watched, his eyes coming to meet Kenny’s own. The song stopped then, and the man smiled directly at him.

_“Te encontré mi amor.”_


	2. Chapter 2

Kenny felt someone shaking his shoulder, and he woke up withy a start, looking around before slowly relaxing. It was just a dream, he realized. When he glanced up he saw the impassive face of Rhys, staring down at him. Realization sank in and Kenny reached up to his beanie, pulling it down further and hoping the man didn’t see something odd. Rhys didn’t say anything, removing his hand from the other’s shoulder.

“We’re here.”

Kenny slowly sat upright, finding that they were the only two left in the plane. Kenny quickly got to his feet and rummaged for his luggage. Rhys was halfway down the aisle, watching him move quickly before stepping away. Kenny paid it no mind, proceeding to gather what he had to hurry off the plane.

“Hurry up!” Elijah called out. Kenny blinked, seeing the rest of them standing there beside a white van. Avery didn’t show any emotion, though it was clear that he was tired.

“That’s all of us.” He opened the door to the driver’s seat and slipped inside, “Get your sorry asses in.”

Everyone grouped into the van one by one. From what it looked like, everyone had also put away their luggage. Kenny was left holding his, getting into the van and setting his luggage in his lap. The three girls took up the back seat, talking amongst each other while Renzo, Isiah, Rhys and Thomas sat in the middle with Kenny. Though, as Avery drove them off the air field and through the small island town, Kenny wasn’t paying attention. His mind was on that dream he had. It was one he never had before, but it felt familiar all the same. He felt like he seen that face before, but he just couldn’t for the life of him tell where.

_“_ ▇▇▇ _!”_

“Oh shiiit, it looks like we’re going on a food hunt fellas.” Renzo was glued to the window, “They have so much food!”

“You eat too much.” Jaiden’s leg bumped into Shelby.

“I eat too little, thank you.” Renzo began to smack Isiah’s shoulder, “Look at that, a street band.”

“Do you think they know Bakamitai?” Thomas questioned.

Kenny’s head perked up, “Dame da ne!”

“Dame yo dame na no yo. Anta ga suki de suki sugite—“

The singing continued as Avery drove the van up to the beachfront area, taking a turn before the lot and going into a pathway that was gated, the security guard greeting him before he was allowed to pass. Up ahead sat the summer home, a sprawling three-story brown house made with wood and brown cobbled stone. The house was more windows than walls, glowing from the inside and showing off the neutral toned furniture and fixtures from the inside. Outside of the house was the tan-colored porch that extended out to fit a barbecue and dining area as well as a circular hot tub that was already hot and steaming.

Once Avery parked the van near the front door Renzo had slammed open the doors and got out, kicking his flip flops off to step into the sand, grinning widely before heading away from the house and straight to the beach. “Brooo we big pimpin’ chillin!”

Isiah got out, making his way to the house, “Living large and lavish aren’t we boss?” He questioned Avery as the owner stepped out of the van.

“Don’t talk to me.”

“Let me.” Elijah climbed out of the van, going straight for Avery and smiling up at him, “Remember what we talked about? ♡”

Shelby got out just in time to see Avery lift Elijah up effortlessly and make his way to the house, quietly squealing to herself and turning to head after them before Willow caught her by her arm.

“I wouldn’t suggest doing that.”

“But they’re going to have sexy time!” Shelby pleaded, “I just want a peek!”

“Send her to horny jail.” Jaiden advised.

“Bet. But where is horny jail?”

“The laundry room.”

Shelby smirked, “All I’ll have to do is load the washer wrong.”

“No place is safe.” Jaiden decided then, heading straight for the hot tub. Willow also caught sight of the hot tub, dragging Shelby along with her.

“You’re sitting with us.”

Kenny was the last one out, watching Thomas head out to the beach to follow Renzo, staying quiet and staring past them, towards the ocean horizon. The air smelled like salt and he could hear seagulls overhead, the man letting out a sigh as he took out his phone again. How was he going to fix his problem here?

When he looked up he caught Rhys watching him from a good distance, sitting on a far rock as the wind made his hair float. The two stared at each other for a good while, Kenny flashing Rhys a fond smile. When he received a message he looked away, back down at his phone, only to see that it was spam. When he looked up again, Rhys was gone. Kenny quirked a brow, looking around the landscape only to see no trace of the man. He let out a small sound of confusion before giving up, going back to his phone.

After a moment of searching, he finally gave up, sighing and looking back up at the house. The sun was starting to go down, so the lights were coming on, illuminating the house and everything surrounding it in a golden light. He began to see Renzo and Thomas heading up to him, grins on their faces as they spoke to one another.

“You Kenny what’s poppin’?” Renzo quickly found his flip-flops, “We’re gonna go into the town and look around, wanna join us?”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Thomas explained, “We’re just fuckin’ starvin’ from the three-hour plane ride.”

Kenny lowered his phone and placed it back into his pocket, shrugging. “Yeah, sure.” He gave them a smile, “I could use something to distract me.”

“Something wrong?” The Brit asked in his own curiosity. Kenny shook his head and shrugged.

“It’s kinda a personal problem.”

“Good, cuz I don’t wanna hear about it.” Renzo smirked, shoving his elbow against Kenny’s side, “How about we get some malasadas on the way back?”

“Do they have those here?”

“They should, it’s an island town!”

Thomas frowned, “What’re malasadas?”

“Fried crack filled with cream crack. It’s Hawaiian.”

“Ah.”

The three of them made their way down the dirt road towards the security office. From there they were checked onto a list and sent on their way. When the dirt road ended, a cobblestone road began, and bright lights greeted them. The town was alive as the sun was setting, people out and making music. Thomas bobbed his head and Renzo pointed to the marketplace, all three of them smelling something freshly baked.

Kenny stopped at one of the booths, “Look, mermaids.” His voice drew the attention of Renzo and Thomas, the three of them looking down at a small selection of mermaid dolls. “You should get one for Shelby.”

“That’s gay.”

“You’re gay.” Kenny smirked, pulling out his wallet. “Fine, I’ll get it for Shelby and she’ll like me more—“

Renzo shoved Kenny out of the way hard, pulling out his wallet, “God, fine, I’ll get the bitch a mermaid.”

Kenny chuckled, rubbing his arm and stepping away from the two of them, feeling something pull at him. He looked back at Renzo and Thomas, who became interested in the booth next to the mermaids containing mangos. Realizing that they’ll be okay by themselves, he followed. It felt like magic, a pull of magic that was meant for people to find. Before he knew it he had wandered far from the marketplace, onto a darker part of the street. The magic pull led him to a singular shop, and he looked along the walls, how it was labeled out in the open as a magic shop.

He opened the door, taking a step inside and feeling the warmth of the magic. He let out a sigh, feeling like he found what he was looking for. “Wow.”

“Ouh, we have a customer.” An aged dark-skinned woman wearing bright, colorful clothing came out from the back room. Kenny raised his hand in greeting before looking along the tiny shop, taking in the small bookshelves that were packed with old tomes. Along the left wall were jars on shelves holding herbs or some other potion ingredient. Special tools lay under a display case in the front, a series of knives and daggers, some defense items. The woman watched Kenny browse around, “It’s rare, seeing a witch that isn’t a woman.” She mused.

Kenny looked up and gave her a half-smile, “I felt differently.” He said simply, pulling down his beanie. “I uh…could you help me with this?”

The older woman clicked her tongue and took a good look at the cat ears, “That’s an uncommon curse, boy, who did you piss off to become that?”

“I didn’t piss off anyone.” Kenny explained, motioning with his hands, “I uh—well—there was this other boy, he had the curse, I was able to take it off of him.”

“Did you dispel the spirit?”

“I didn’t think I had to—“

“A good witch would have dispelled the spirit.”

“That’s the problem.” Kenny frowned, “I’m not a good witch. My mom didn’t teach me jack shit. I’ve been kinda winging it since I left home.”

“Mm-hmm.” She nodded, going past the counter to approach him, “With the rarity of our kind, I would figure your mother would know better.”

Kenny felt her hands be placed on his head, and he glanced down, “My mom wasn’t a good mother.” He said quietly.

The older woman pat his head soothingly, “I’m quite surprised you were able to remove this the first time,” As she said it she began to pull the spirit from Kenny, and he could feel the cat trying to clamp on, the woman cooing to the spirit under her breath before it finally let go. She held the translucent spirit in her hands, smiling at it before speaking something in latin and clapping her hands together, the spirit leaving in a puff of smoke.

Kenny was left feeling dizzy, looking like his original self again. He reached into his jacket pocket and took out his glasses, sliding them back onto his face. “Oh man, thanks. I didn’t know I would get it done so soon. It’s been a bitch trying to find anything related to witches.”

“What have you been trying?”

Kenny shrugged, “Internet searches on my phone, really. I used to work at a magic shop but they moved and then closed down. I learned a little bit but not enough, yanno?”

“Poor, poor child.” She placed her hands on his shoulders, “You’re not from around here, are you?”

“No. Only here for the week.”

“Well I feel like you need some help in that week.” She smiled at him, “Come back in a few days, I’ll have gathered some information you could use to move forward. This town is a sacred town for witches, you know that? Not many know this but we’re steeped in a deep history.”

“This isn’t Massachusetts so it’s not any witch trials, right?”

She shook her head, “Further than that, child.” She directed his attention to a tapestry on the wall behind the counter, one in silk, depicting of a witch joining with a devil-like creature, a man with horns and goat legs. “Have you the time to hear about the tradition?”

Kenny took out his phone to check the time, putting it back. “I don’t gotta be anywhere.”

“You’ve heard of the Salem Witch Trials, yes, then you’ve heard the tale that they believed witches were servants of Satan, and that’s how the story would shape worldwide beliefs, but it’s just the opposite. Witches and demons were on the same level, though witches would make living contracts with demons to secure safety for those who weren’t blessed with magic.”

Kenny tilted his head, looking at the tapestry, it looked like the two figures on the piece were being wed. “Demons exist?”

“That they do. Though it’s not just the regular old story of ‘beasts with horns’. Demons come in many shapes and forms, you would hear about many of them in different countries, but they’re all real. Witches have a standing within the world, they protect those who cannot. Their contracts with demons come from a tradition. Demons used to torment humans, doing just about anything they could with them. It would be in the middle ages that the grand witch would make a contract with a demon to protect her own.”

Kenny found a chair, sitting down. “What did a contract do?”

“A contract bound the demon to the witch, wherein the demon fed off of the magic of the witch to sate his appetite. It was like a marriage, but made between the rulers of both factions. For us, it was the leader of our highest clan, for them, it would be the leader of their people. Within time, it would be that one clan’s duty to uphold the tradition, every country has their clan, the one that bore the most powerful of witches. They’re similar to royalty, if you would like to look at it that way.”

“Oh.”

“This town is where that very clan resides, though now…”

As the woman began looking troubled Kenny frowned, “What’s wrong? Is something wrong?”

“The heir to the clan had gone away, rumors said that she had run off, not wanting to keep with tradition so she could follow some other whim. That was at least over twenty years ago.”

Kenny’s foot started tapping at the floor out of habit, and he thought. “So, that means no demons had made a contract.” He got that feeling again, how he felt like he knew this place somehow. “Who is the clan?”

Just as the woman opened up her mouth the door had opened, the bell ringing to give attention to a customer. Kenny looked over to the door, seeing that Rhys had entered. “Rhys?”

The man didn’t say anything, going straight to Kenny and grasping him by the arm. “It’s time to go.” He said then, moving to drag him out. Kenny couldn’t pull away, the man’s grip like steel.

“Wait! Rhys!” He was left to follow him, stumbling out the door without getting a word in edgewise. Rhys pulled him away from the shop, heading for the summer home. “Will you just hold the fuck on!” Kenny finally managed to get his arm free, glaring at Rhys as the other stopped to look at him. “What was that about?”

“Renzo and Thomas came back without you, so I went to find you.”

Kenny rubbed his arm, “Uh, so? I think I could make it back by myself.”

“You’re alone in a strange place.”

“I’m a big boy, Rhys. I think I can take care of myself.”

“Not in this place.” The man folded his arms, “There’s something off about this place.”

Kenny blinked, wondering if Rhys could feel the magic that he could obviously feel, which made him wonder just how Rhys could feel it. He tried not to think more about it than he had to, starting to feel the tiredness of the day. “Alright, fine.” He soon gave up, walking along the dirt road. Kenny’s eyes roamed the area, and while to the right everything looked to be a sandy beachside, to the left was a wooded forest. The place looked unique, and there was a clan of witches that lived here? He needed to go back to the magic shop soon, possibly the next day. With one look at Rhys he wondered if the man had been worried about him. It felt nice, knowing that Rhys cared so much…

The two of them remained silent through the walk, Rhys looking at Kenny every now and then out of the corner of his eye, seemingly looking for something to say. Kenny paid him no mind, having stuck his hands in his jacket pocket and directed his eyes down to the road.

“What were you doing inside that place?”

Kenny’s head perked up, and he looked at Rhys. His eyes lingered on the other’s face, how it was carefully guarded. He thought about his answer, wondering how much he should lie about.

“Personal problem.” Kenny said evasively, “I got it solved.”

“You’re wearing your glasses.” Rhys pointed out.

“What about it?”

“You said you were trying out contacts.”

Kenny shrugged, “I lost them.”

Rhys quirked a brow for a moment before looking away, “You’re better off without.”

Kenny looked at him, “Hm?”

“You look better…without.” His voice came out quieter than it normally was, and Kenny had to lean to hear him. He didn’t know how to respond to the compliment, letting out a small laugh.

“Hey…maybe tomorrow we should do something.” Kenny began to smile, catching Rhys’s attention. The blonde quirked a brow.

“Do something, as in what?”

He brushed his blue hair from his eyes, “Maybe…do something we used to do…since we’re in an island and all…” Kenny stepped closer to Rhys, smirking at him as he reached up to touch the other’s long neck. “Have some fun?”

Rhys’s eyes seemed to glitter in the excitement that the offer had brought, and he leaned forward.

“Kenny!”

Isiah’s voice broke Kenny away from Rhys, the man turning his head away just as Rhys dipped down, the taller male unable to stop Kenny from moving away from him.

“What do you want, clown boy?” Kenny cried out as he made his way over to him, not realizing what Rhys was trying to do.

Rhys winced, turning to watch Kenny leave his side. His eyes fell onto Isiah in the distance and he glared slightly at the man before sighing and moving to follow after Kenny.

Stupid timing.

♥♥♥

As opposed to the rainy season in the city they lived in, the weather where they were at currently was a lot warmer than it was at home, as it was an island that was just off the mainland. It was well accepted with everyone who had come to the summer home, that day specifically warm enough for swimming. Isiah and Jaiden were the firsts to break out of the house, towels in hand and word grins on their faces as they hurried for the white crystalline sand. Behind them were Renzo and Thomas, screaming at the top of their lungs and rushing past the two that were ahead of them, making their way directly to the water. Renzo managed to kick his flip flops off and Thomas grasped his bag and threw it onto the sand. Isiah wasn't too far behind, crying out his joy as he pulled his t-shirt in haste. Behind the screaming morons were Shelby and Willow, not running but calmly walking to where Jaiden was laying out her towel. The three of them had their sunglasses on and carrying beach umbrellas to pitch into the sand.

The last ones out were Kenny, Avery, and Elijah. The latter of the three wearing a skimpy little bikini that was made for a girl, yet fitting perfectly on the younger’s feminine body. Avery kept his eyes forward, trying to keep himself from looking anywhere else, especially the provocative male that was at his side. Kenny had a knowing grin plastered to his face, catching Shelby oogle Avery’s boyfriend before whispering something to Willow.

“Damn that boy can make a plastic bag look good.” Jaiden looked away from Elijah. “Only he can get away with that shit.”

“Avery lets him get away with it that's why.” Willow pointed out, “I bet you one-hundred dollars that Elijah is in charge of that relationship.”

“If he can tame someone like Avery Lycroft then he deserves to be in charge of the relationship.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Kenny could hear the girls talk, holding back a chuckle as he parted from Avery and Elijah, going to rest himself on a rock near the girls. He watched everyone play, seeing Renzo and Thomas in a splash fight while Isiah was swimming laps.

“Are there sharks in the water?” Jaiden asked.

“Ion think so.” Willow took a moment to think, “Avery didn't say anything about sharks.”

A grin formed on Jaiden’s face and she dug into her bag, taking out a swim cap, goggles, and vest of some sort. “I'm going to make someone cry.”

“Have fun.” Willow laughed as Jaiden had left to do her thing.

“Ten bucks says Isiah pisses himself.” Shelby lowered her shades, smirking.

“I’ll take that bet.”

Kenny snorted in amusement, leaning against the warm stone and closing his eyes for a moment.

_“_ ▇▇▇ _!”_

_A boy with short black hair and crimson eyes reached for a girl that was hiding behind a bush, her hair messy and brown as her eyes were bright, a mixture of brown and green with flecks of gold. His voice had caught her attention and she smiled, turning back towards the boy._

_“You found me!”_

Kenny opened his eyes, hearing screaming coming from the ocean. His attention wavered away from the memory and onto the sight, Isiah leaping from the waters and swimming his heart out towards the shore. Behind him was a gray shark fin, swimming towards him.

“SHARK IN THE WATER SHARK IN THE WATER!”

Both Renzo and Thomas scrambled aside, only to find out that the shark fin didn’t dare go near them, trained only on Isiah. Shelby and Willow broke out into laughter, and Isiah’s panic lessened as his suspicion caught on, the man turning back to see Jaiden raising up from the water, goggles and swim cap on, smirking haughtily at the man who had just realized he had been played.

“Stupid idiot bitch.”

Isiah could hear the cackles from ashore, his eyes narrowing as he folded his arms, “Ha ha, yes, laugh it up. I’ll get my comeuppance Jaiden, keep your eyes open.”

“You can’t do shit, clown.” She shot back.

“Did he piss in the water?” Shelby called out.

“Nah I didn’t feel a warm spot - thank God, I didn’t want to swim through his piss.”

Willow was smiling, turning to Shelby, “Pay up.”

“You know technically the whole ocean is a toilet.” Thomas said then, “Fish piss and shit themselves all the time.”

Jaiden made a face, “Ew, get me out of this shit.”

Kenny let out a chuckle, only then realizing that his shadow wasn’t alone. He could see a taller, broader shadow beside him on the more elevated part of the rock. He frowned, turning to see Rhys standing on the stop of the rock, looking back down at him. Kenny blinked a few times, looking around before smiling up at him.

He continued to stare at Rhys, remembering their earlier conversation the night before. They were supposed to do something today weren’t they? It seemed like the perfect time to do something as well, the weather was warm and the sun was out. He caught Rhys smiling back down at him, as if he was thinking about the same thing. All they had to do was go somewhere private…

“Hey Kenny!”

Kenny looked away from Rhys quickly to see that Renzo and Thomas were walking up to him. “We’re gonna go into town and get some grub.”

“Yeah, while you were gone we saw this quaint looking restaurant.”

Renzo laughed, “Yeah we’re gonna con Avery into buying us lunch.”

“Renzo we literally have a chef at the house that’ll cook you anything you want.” Shelby made her way over to them.

“It’s about the _experience_ , gosh. Why would I eat inside the house when I could go out and eat like a tourist? We’re literally on a fucking island, Shubble.”

“He does have a point.” Willow agreed, “We’re not good tourists if we don’t support the island-owned businesses.”

“If Avery’s payin’ then I want to try everything possible.” Isiah smiled widely, reaching down to pat his belly. “Plus I wanna see what else is on the island, get a gift for my girlfriend.”

“I keep forgetting someone’s dating your goofy ass.” Jaiden said as she got out a mirror to check her hair.

Isiah visibly wilted, “Yeah, sometimes I’m shocked too.” He kept the frown for a moment longer before smiling again, “I guess no one can resist my natural charm!”

Shelby made a gagging noise and Willow chose not to say anything, walking away.

Kenny could see Avery in the distance, trying to talk Elijah into wearing a cover up if they were planning on going into the nearby town. The younger man seemed to pout, only to give him a flirty smile and whisper something into his ear. As if she could sense the discussion, Shelby directed her attention to the couple. “They’re making more plans to fuck!” She breathed.

“Shelby go to horny jail.” Jaiden pleaded.

Kenny smirked, “She’s the horny warden.”

The blonde smiled, “Damn right I am.” She whirled around to smack Kenny’s chest, “I should be throwing you into horny jail too, Mr. Arellano.”

“Why me?”

She leaned in close to the other, glancing up to where Rhys is, “I’ve been watching you and Rhys make googly eyes at each other, don’t think you’re so smooth.”

Kenny felt his cheeks go hot, “I have not!”

“You two are getting ready to do some hanky panky aren’t you?” She grinned secretively.

Kenny looked at her like she was nuts. How did she sense these things? “I—”

“Come ooon, he’s like super hot. Can I watch? Let me watch—Renzo? Wait, Renzo, let go!”

Renzo continued to pull Shelby away, smiling apologetically at Kenny. “Sorry. Her mom writes porn.”

Kenny chuckled, moving to follow Avery as Elijah, now in a sundress, led his boyfriend towards the dirt path.

  
The three women put their covers on, Shelby in her shorts and loose tee, Willow in a lovely black babydoll dress, and Jaiden in capris and a peasant blouse.

The three men shook the sand out of their own shirts and pulled them back on, finding their sandals to catch up with the three. Kenny was the only one who wasn’t dressed for swimming, wearing green camouflage shorts and a button-up shirt. Avery was rarely ever seen wearing anything but his usual dress slacks and white suit shirt, but for this vacation Elijah persuaded him to wear khakis and a v-neck shirt.

As Kenny looked around, he noticed that Rhys had disappeared. He frowned at that and pulled out his phone, scrolling through his feed as the nine of them headed down the dirt path. As they walked, Kenny looked up at the sky to see two dark clouds slowly moving to block the sun. The light slowly went away, the clouds overhead immersing them in darkness. Willow put a hand over her sunhat and looked up, noticing how much darker it was now than before and hoping it wasn’t a storm cloud.

“I thought the weather report said clear skies.” Elijah commented, looking up.

“If they were lying I’m hunting down that weather girl and beating her with a switch.” Willow said mostly to herself.

It was dark the entire time they had walked the dirt road, the clouds only dispersing once they had made it to the cobblestone road. There, the sun beamed down upon them again, and everything seemed normal. Kenny looked back up at the sky, watching as the clouds curled and floated away, almost like disintegrating curtains.

Odd.

“Where is everyone?”


	3. Chapter 3

The town was deserted. Compared to the activity of the night before, where there were people everywhere, there was no one to be found. No one was inside the shops or at the marketplace. Not a single soul wondering about. The lack of people was very strange, as there wasn't any information or alert as to why the whole town would be evacuated. Not even the animals, the stray cats or dogs, were wandering the streets.

Kenny took a step forward, as did the rest of the group. Everyone was confused and somewhat alarmed. They made their way further into the main street, looking into windows of establishments. Elijah took hold of Avery’s arm, becoming confused and frightened from the lack of life in the town.

“It’s like they all vanished.” Isiah was the first one to speak. “But why?”

“Maybe it’s their way of telling us to leave.” Renzo suggested.

“Or, or, get this, maybe it’s a ghost town and there were never people here in the first place.” Thomas added his two cents in, smiling slightly when Renzo agreed.

“Yooo then all those people last night were ghosts!”

“Shut up.” Willow snapped.

Kenny broke away from the group, taking a few steps forward.

_“Mi amor.”_

There was a collective intake of breath, everyone's attention going to a large display window that Kenny had stood in front of. There, an image of a man had appeared, one that Kenny recognized instantly as the man from his dream. The man smiled seductively, his crimson eyes solely on Kenny.

“I’ve finally found you!” The man looked overjoyed.

“Uh…”

“Is this some kind of performance art?” Thomas asked.

The man didn’t seem to notice the others, “I was wondering just how long it’d take until you’d come back to me.”

Kenny looked around, trying to see if the man was talking to anyone else but him, only to point a finger to himself. “Y-you’re talking to me?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? You don’t remember me?” He seemed to be put out by that, “I’m your destined.”

_“Damien!”_

Kenny blinked, vaguely recalling a memory he couldn’t quite make out. “…my destined.” He repeated quietly, “Do you have something to do with why there’s no people in the city?”

“How am I supposed to get your attention if it’s easily taken by others?” The man queried, smirking a little as he leaned back in his seat, “I just never assumed you’d step foot into the home of your ancestors.”

“What do you mean, home of my ancestors?” Kenny’s voice raised, “I’ve never been here in my life.”

“You haven’t, but your mother has, and her mother before her, everyone in the Clan Rosales has ruled over this island. Or hasn’t your mother ever told you?” He frowned, leaning forward and setting his elbows on his desk, cradling his chin in his hands. “You’re the heir of the Clan Rosales, the highest clan of witches in this country.”

It became silent and Kenny suddenly didn’t like the silence, glancing to his friends behind them and suddenly feeling anxious. Rosales was his mother’s maiden name…did that mean—

“Wait, Kenny’s a witch?”

“That explains a lot of things, actually.”

Kenny took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves, “So…mom was royalty…and she never told me.”

“Your mother didn’t tell you a lot of things.” The demon tutted, “But that’s okay, because once we bond together I can tell you anything you want to know.”

_“It was like a marriage, but made between the rulers of both factions. For us, it was the leader of our highest clan, for them, it would be the leader of their people.”_

Kenny breathed, “So…you’re a demon.”

The demon smiled, “Demon Lord, remember our promise?” He seemed to be bothered that Kenny hadn’t remembered anything, standing up so he could clap his hands together, “No matter. Once we meet again we can—“

“What makes you think I’m going to do anything with you?” Kenny interrupted him. “I have a life, Just because I’m some sort of witch royalty doesn’t mean I’m going to make any fucking contracts with demons.”

There was a beat of silence, “So you’re saying no.”

“No.” Kenny repeated, looking back at his friends, “I rather spend my time with these assholes.”

“Well fuck you too.”

“We love you too Kenny.”

The demon lord looked unmoved, “Shame.” His eyes roamed along the faces of Kenny’s friends, taking in each and every one before landing onto Avery’s person. “Then I guess…” He snapped his fingers, and Avery cried out as he was raised into the air.

“Avery!” Elijah cried out in alarm. Kenny whipped around just in time to see a flash of light, Avery’s body becoming incased by a small white marble that darted off towards the forest. Kenny’s eyebrows shot up and he whirled back around.

“What did you do?”

“Incentive.” He said simply. “If you won’t come to me then I’ll give you a reason to.”

“Give Avery back!” Elijah cried out, storming over to the window and glaring hard at the demon.

He only whistled and sat back down, “Mm, if you want Avery back then you best be making your way to the castle.” He pointed to the side, and everyone looked down the road, where the forest began and strong stone-like structure sat in the distance. “It’s time for you to come home, mi amor.” The demon flashed him a smile, and the window’s image faded out. “I’ll be waiting~”

Everything went silent again, and Kenny didn’t move, feeling eyes on him. The moment was awkward as all hell, the man not knowing what to say to follow this up.

“Well that was a thing.” Isiah said then, “What was all of that about, Kenny, you’re a witch?”

“Yes.” Kenny breathed.

“Witches exist?”

“Yes.”

“That guy said he was a demon, so demons exist too huh?”

“Yes.”

“Guys calm down.” Shelby stepped over to Kenny, putting her hands on his shoulder blades. “Clearly he’s uncomfortable talking about it.”

The only one who didn’t look confused was Elijah, though he also looked angry. “If we’re not going to get Avery then I’m going by myself!” He shouted, turning to head down the street.

“Hang on shorty.” Willow grasped his wrist before he could get away, the man wheeling back around to glare at her.

“Who’re you calling short?”

“Guys, guys, calm down.” Thomas put his hands up placatingly as he stepped out to the front. “Can’t you see that we can’t lose our heads?”

“This is what that demon lord wants.” Willow gave Elijah a look, “He wants us to go after him.”

“No, he wants Kenny to go after him.” Renzo folded his arms, “We have no stake in this at all.”

“Yes we do!” Jaiden threw her arm out towards the structure in the distance, “That’s our boss in there. We can’t just do jack shit while something happens to him!”

“I say we all go.”

“I say we stay and let Kenny handle it.”

Jaiden smacked Renzo upside the head, “Stupid, it could be a trap.”

“And who’s to say that nothing will happen to us?” Renzo argued back, “We’re not part of this, we’re fodder. We might just be killed.”

“Kenny might be killed!” Jaiden screamed, “You’re saying you care about your own life more than Kenny’s?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying!” Renzo shouted, pausing for a moment, “No offense, Kenny.”

“None taken.” The witch sighed.

“Hey I got an idea.” Shelby got between Jaiden and Renzo and shoved them apart. “We all go up there and raise hell. All we need are weapons.”

“What is this an anime? We Ain’t got no weapon skills.” Isiah shouted.

“You probably don’t but I know my way around sharp objects.” She smiled innocently, which didn’t look innocent in the slightest. “All we need to do is find some place that has something we can use.”

Kenny finally snapped out of his stupor, “I know a place.”

♥♥♥

Kenny slowly stepped through the magic shop’s doors, his eyes going straight to the display case that housed the various weapons and defense items. “There we go…” He headed over to it, looking into the case. The shop was as quiet as everyplace else, the owner nowhere to be found. He looked back to the front door, watching as the others filed in.

“Holy shit.” Isiah looked around in amazement. “This shit is real, damn.”

“So was this the place you went to last night?” Renzo asked, “I’m so jealous, you shoulda showed us.”

Kenny smiled slightly, “I was brought up to never talk about it.”

“I don’t know why. This stuff is sick.” His hands went to a book that was all in Latin. “Like I woulda supported you bein’ a witch, it means you can do all this shit we can’t, right?”

“So do you know how to do things like love potions?” Shelby asked, purely intrigued, “Are those allowed?”

Kenny shrugged, “I only learned a little bit when I worked with witches for a year…like…most of the stuff I can make is plant-based.” He picked at his blue hair, “My hair-dye is made out of flowers and lasts as long as I want it to. Mostly everything needs plants, and the five elements.”

“Earth, air, fire, water, spirit, right?” Willow asked, tilting her head in thought.

“Yeah.”

“With that in mind I would love some purple hair dye.”

Shelby went straight to the display case, “Oh man they look so pretty. Are you sure we should take these?”

“I would debate on the morality of stealing weapons from a shop without buying them but we’re dealing with demons so I think looting is okay in this situation.” Willow joined her, “I want the taser.”

“I want the sharpest thing in there.” Shelby said with glittering eyes.

“I wouldn’t mind the axe.” Isiah pointed to an axe on display up on the wall.

“No fuck you I want the axe!” Renzo shouted, going straight for the weapon.

Elijah managed to pick the lock to the case and everyone went to grab what they wanted. Kenny’s hand lingered on a dagger, picking it up and bringing it closer so he could inspect it.

Shelby pocketed a pair of golden shears and Isiah found brass knuckles. “Aren’t these illegal?”

“Does it matter?” Willow put away her taser, watching Elijah pick up a gold sandal.

“The golden chancla!” Renzo gasped.

“I can see all the Hispanic children all over the world cowering in fear.”

“Chancla de la muerte.” Kenny smirked.

“I’m going to beat him over the head with it until he gives Avery back.” Elijah said in finality, taking a swing with the sandal.

“I don’t get it.”

Kenny turned to the voice, seeing Rhys standing in the middle of the store. “Where the fuck were you?”

Rhys frowned, “What do you mean, I was here the whole time.”

“But you—“ Kenny stopped himself, trying to remember if Rhys had been with them the whole time. Though, everyone else didn’t seem to pay him any mind so Kenny gave up on thinking about it. “What don’t you get?”

“The chancla thing.”

“You’re whiter than Shelby of course you don’t know.”

“You gotta be Hispanic.”

“Or Shelby.”

Rhys quirked a brow, looking at Shelby for an answer, the woman rolled her eyes, “Chico blanco.”

After a moment of thought Rhys gave up, and Kenny saw that he wasn’t even looking for a weapon to use. “Are we ready?”

“Yeah! Let’s fuck up a demon lord!” Renzo raised his axe in the air.

“Yeah!”

The last one out was Kenny, who had lingered at one of the books until he felt a hand on his arm. He looked up to see Rhys with him, looking down at him with curiosity. “Are you leaving?”

“O-oh.” Kenny closed the book but kept a hold on it, eventually taking it with him. Rhys kept close, his eyes on the stone ruins in the distance.

It wasn’t until they got to the outskirts of the town that Renzo finally noticed someone was missing, “Where’s Thomas?”

The group stopped, looking around for their dark-haired friend but not finding him anywhere near them. “Did we leave him behind?”

“I don’t even think he was in the shop with us either.” Jaiden thought, “Come to think of it, the last time I saw him was the marketplace.”

“This might be the demon lord’s doing.” Rhys told them, “He could just be taking everyone one by—”

“Then let’s not let him take anyone else. We’ll get them back!” Shelby pointed to the stone ruins, “YA HEAR THAT FUCKER! YOU CAN’T MESS WITH US!”

“She’s really into this.” Jaiden commented to Willow.

“Really.”

“Let’s GO!” Shelby shouted, heading into the forest.

“Shubble wait!” Renzo hurried after her, “You dumbass, watch where you’re going!”

Kenny sighed, watching everyone else follow after Shelby before looking towards the ruins. “Could he really be there?” He asked himself. “Or is this a trap?”

“If it’s anything, you’re the one who has the power to end it.” Rhys said from his side.

Kenny frowned, turning to the blonde. “The way you’re saying that tells me you already knew I was a witch.”

Rhys didn’t say anything at first, pulling a tie out from his pockets and tying the lower part of his hair together. “I know a lot of things, it’s just not the time to tell you yet.”

With that, the taller male began to follow after the band of friends, leaving Kenny alone. Kenny watched after him and sighed, moving to follow.

♥♥♥

It was nearly heartwarming how his friends wanted to stick by him despite finding out what he really was, but at the same time he didn’t like how they wanted to throw themselves into danger by joining him on the journey to the castle ruins. It was all to get Avery back, and Thomas, who seemed to have been taken as well. Though, thirty minutes into the journey, Elijah wasn’t anywhere to be found either. Searching for him didn’t seem to do anyone any favors as the path they came from wasn’t there anymore, and they seemed to have lost themselves.

“He must control this entire area if we’re trapped like this.”

“This brush is thicker than my grandad’s beard.” Isiah had dropped to his knees. He was sweating, the heat and the constant hacking of brush having got to him, “It’s like it doesn’t go away at all.”

“We’ve been walking for hours.” Willow found a rock to sit on, “After this I’m gonna need at least twenty hours of sleep.”

“Has it been hours?” Kenny reached into his pocket to take out his phone, clicking the button in hopes to get some kind of display only to get nothing. “Huh, the battery died.”

“This is some anime villain bullshit.” Isiah leaned his head back against a tree. “The villain wants to attack the protagonist and takes out all their friends to weaken their resolve.”

“Does that mean this story ends with some sort of ‘power of friendship’ theme?” Renzo questioned, “Because that’s lame as all fuck.”

“My little pony headass.” Willow mumbled.

“I just wanna go back home and take a phat nap.” Jaiden exhaled.

Kenny found a log to rest on, pulling the book he was carrying into his lap and opening it. When he worked at that magic shop in the city, he received a spell to translate words into his native tongue, so the book that was written in Latin came out as his own language. He read a part of it, telling him of the history between the witches and demons, how a war had broke out between them before a truce was settled on a blood contract.

A drop of blood, willingly given, sealed a witch to the demon she was promised to.

“Will we get married?” Kenny heard a child’s voice in his ear, and he closed his eyes, seeing the boy child again, sitting next to the little girl on the stoop of a rotted out house in the field, a larger two-story home sitting in the distance. The girl looked at him, humming.

_“Why?”_

_The boy smiled, “We can be together forever if we do. Just us, you and me.”_

_The girl thought about it, taking a stick in her hand to draw the boy’s face in the dirt. “Do I gotta wear a dress?”_

_“You don’t have to.”_

_“Good, cuz dresses are uncomfy.”_

_The boy scooted closer to the girl. “I won’t be able to marry you yet though, I gotta get stronger.”_

_The girl looked at him, confused. “Why do you gotta get stronger?”_

_“So I can protect you.”_

Kenny opened his eyes, and suddenly he was staring into amber ones, Rhys’s face a few inches away from his own. He blinked confusedly.

Rhys reached out to grab his glasses, “Kenny—“

“Guys, where’s Shelby?”

The voice interrupted whatever Rhys was about to say, alerting Kenny. The man stood up without answering Rhys and he looked around. He didn’t notice the annoyed twitch to Rhys’s eye. “Shelby?”

“She was here, wasn’t she?” Willow also looked around, “God, we’re all disappearing. It makes you wonder who’s next.”

“I have a feeling that the demon lord’s vanishing everyone because the only one he wants is Kenny.” Rhys said then, “The rest of us are in the way.”

“But what’s happening to them?” Jaiden’s voice rose in panic, “Are they being killed or what? I want to take the fat dirt nap, why am I the one being spared?”

“Maybe if you ask him nicely he’ll take you next.” Renzo said then, pausing for a moment, “Please don’t.”

“Bitch I’ll suck that man’s dick if it means I can go next.” Jaiden stood up with a look of determination, “It’s a promise.”

“We should keep going.” Isiah said as he raised himself to his feet, “I don’t really want to see anyone else vanish.”

“Well technically you’re not even seeing them do anything, they’re just gone.” Willow also got to her feet, “How far is that ting anyway, are we even close?”

Kenny kept his book close to his chest, “I have no fucking clue.”

Rhys pointed them towards a gap in the bushes.“I think it’s this way—”

“What if he’s getting us lost on purpose?” Isiah interrupted.

“I think the last thing the demon lord wants is for Kenny to get lost.” Willow shoved Isiah towards the bushes, “Now be a good little grunt and start hacking.”

The group continued forward, Kenny keeping up the rear and realizing that Rhys hadn’t left his side once. It was starting to wear on him, that he was suddenly in this heavy situation. His friends were going missing one by one and he was being faced with a decision. That and the demon lord was so familiar to him, but he couldn’t quite make out just why… He fell in step with Rhys and hooked his arm around the other’s, leaning his head against the man. Rhys looked down at Kenny, stopping his walk and leading Kenny to a halt as well, reaching for the shorter man’s blue hair and combing it back.

Kenny looked up at Rhys, remembering that the man before him knew more than he let on, “Why do you know so much?”

“Do you honestly want to know?” Rhys asked, smiling down at Kenny and cupping the other’s cheek.

As Kenny nodded, there was a scream. Whatever was going to happen had to wait, and Kenny quickly let go of Rhys and darted out to run toward where his friends had gone. Rhys followed after him, the two of them making their way out into a clearing that was frightfully empty, devoid of human life.

“Isiah? Willow?” Kenny stepped forward, shouting their names as he wandered the entirety of the clearing. “Jaiden? Renzo!” His voice carried, and he whipped around, turning in hopes to see them appear. “Anyone?” As Kenny took another step forward, he nearly tripped. His eyes went down, seeing the machete lying on the grass. Kenny felt his knees go weak but before he could drop, strong arms caught him. Rhys curled his arms around Kenny as the man did his best not to break down, taking deep breaths that ended up becoming a panic attack.

Rhys rubbed his back, “Calm down, calm…steady breaths…” He continued the mantra until Kenny was following his directions, resting Kenny against him. “We have to move forward.” He said quietly, “He must have your friends…”

“Why do you know so much?” Kenny choked out, grasping the other’s shirt. “Please tell me.”

“Mm…” Rhys leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Kenny’s, “I know a lot more than you think I do…” He said quietly. “My family is in service to yours, I was meant to protect you.” He tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Some protection this turned out to be…I allowed you to be led back home and your friends to be captured.”

“Hold on, hold on…” Kenny wiped a tear from his eye, “You’re…but we’re…I only met you when I moved to the city…”

“Forgive me, I’ve known you for longer…I’ve known your mother…” He reached down to cup Kenny’s face with his hands, “Your grandmother sent me to watch over your mother when she left the clan…”

Kenny wanted to move away, but the hands on his skin were warm. In his current state he couldn’t pull away, only sinking into the warmth. His hazel eyes stayed on Rhys’s golden ones, “So…you’re a demon…”

Rhys smiled, and before Kenny could realize it, he was enveloped in the comfort of eight massive and soft fox tails, each one curling around Kenny protectively, like a barrier that kept him isolated from the outside world. Kenny glanced up further, seeing the ears atop Rhys’s head, the same blonde as his hair, as were the tails, yet the tips were dipped in orange. Slowly, Rhys’s features became that of a fox demon, his eyes flickering down at Kenny.

“You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to tell you.” Rhys said quietly, “You don’t realize how long I’ve been waiting…but these aren’t the circumstances that I wanted.”

Kenny felt even more warmth, feeling a fire around himself. Fox fire, he wondered, looking around to notice the flames surrounding them. “What—“

“I’m using my magic to protect us…” Rhys said quietly. “There’s a reason why I wasn’t taken, why you’re still here…”

Kenny tried not to get overwhelmed, “Why couldn’t you protect the others?”

“My magic as it only extends to you and myself. To make it more expansive I would need more magic…” He smiled slightly, “Right now, it’s up to you and me. We need to work together to get back your friends. We could vanquish the demon lord.”

“Why does he want me?”

“He’s after your magic, he’s been after your magic since your mother ran out on her arrangement. I managed to hide you from him for this long…but that ran out as soon as we arrived onto this island.”

Kenny nodded slowly in understanding, reflecting back onto his memories. Something still didn’t feel right. “What do we have to do?”

“Bring our magic together, it’ll become powerful enough to bring him down. He won’t be a bother to us and everyone you love will come back.”

_“_ ▇▇▇ _!”_

The name filtered through his head and Kenny went silent, going back to the demon’s visage from the window, the dream. The way that the man kept calling him ‘my love’, like he wanted something more than just his magic. Then there were the memories. Why was Kenny remembering something he couldn’t remember before about a boy he once knew? “Before we do that…I want to talk to him.”

“Talk—but why?” Rhys looked confused.

“Because I have unanswered questions.” Kenny finally moved, reaching up to take Rhys’s hands from his face. “There’s something bugging me and I want to know what.”

“If you talk to him he will only spread lies.” Rhys grasped Kenny’s hands, “He only wants you, Kenny, he’ll do anything to get you. The only thing that he cares about is your magic.”

Kenny tried to smile, “I wouldn’t worry.” He leaned forward, the golden flecks in his eyes glowing slightly, “If something happens then we can take care of it, right?”

“Right—but—“

“But nothing.” His smile became a grin, “You know me Rhys, I’m the type of person that doesn’t shoot first and ask questions later.”

After a moment of silence, Rhys sighed, “Yeah…you are…” He pulled on a kind smile, leaning forward to kiss Kenny’s forehead. “I’ll protect you either way.”

The tails were hesitant about unwrapping from Kenny but eventually they did, the fire around them dying out as Kenny stood back up on his feet. From the clearing they could see the ruins of the castle. “I think we’ll get there soon.” He felt renewed, as Rhys had that way about him, calming him down without even trying.

It felt familiar to him.

Rhys stood up, his tails whipping back. He took one lingering look at Kenny, then at the ruins.

It would be all over soon.


	4. Chapter 4

The castle ruins sat at the top of a steep, grassy mountain that was surrounded by grand rocks. Leading up to the ruins were stone steps that wound around that mountain, stopping at lush grasslands that were surrounded by wooden barricades. Torn and sun-damaged flags were draped over the barricades, Kenny standing in front of one of them, trying to make out the faded symbol of a rose against a thorny pentacle made out of vines.

“Every Clan has their strength.” Rhys said to him as he traced his fingers over the worn fabric. “The Clan Rosales dealt with plant magic, it came as easily to them as breathing.”

Kenny thought back to when he was younger, how he could make vines grow with just a touch. “Is this my home?”

Rhys nodded solemnly, turning his head to the ruins above, “After your mother left the island the clan would have a downfall. Without their heir to give them a new contract, the demons that were to join with her had overrun the island. By leaving her clan, she doomed the family into ruin.”

Kenny felt his gut churning, “So I’m the…”

“Depending on if your mother is still alive, you may be the High Witch of the Clan Rosales. The rest of the clan has been scattered.”

He didn’t like the implication that his mother was the one to destroy his ancestors or whatever family he had on his mother’s side. That she became selfish and sent her family into ruin over something she didn’t know about…but, it was unfair to think of. Why did her mother leave in the first place? Was it out of selfishness or was it out of something else entirely? All Kenny knew was that his mother fell head over heels for his father and settled down in an obscure part of the country to raise a child. Some raising that was…

Kenny was discouraged to use his magic at every moment, did that have some sort of underlying meaning to everything? Was his mother so ashamed of being a witch that she had fled the only place she had lived to try her hand out as a normal person? The what-ifs and maybes were in the air, and it wasn’t like Kenny wanted to go and demand an explanation. Some things were just meant to be a mystery, and he could speculate forever without reaching the true conclusion. Maybe a lie was better than the truth.

As he was thinking he felt fingers thread through his own, the touch not diverting his attention until a finger and thumb settled themselves at his chin, tilting his head upwards. He was met with amber eyes, the demon before him doing his best to stop him from overthinking before he became obsessed over something he couldn’t solve.

“Let’s go.” He whispered.

_“I want to come with you!”_

_The girl’s cry was desperate, her hands bunching in the fabric that was the boy’s shirt. His hair was longer now, brought together at the base. The girl’s hair looked more messy, two loose braids sitting at the ends, her hazel eyes watered with tears. “I don’t want to stay here.”_

_The boy placed a calm hand on her own. His own red eyes reflected sympathy and sadness over the situation. He knew he had to leave, he knew he didn’t want to, but he knew what he needed to do all the same. “I wish I could take you with me.” He said apologetically. “But if we’re to be together then I need to prove myself. I need to become stronger.” He slowly unfolded her hands. “I’ll come back for you.”_

_“But I hate it here!” She cried._

_“I know. I want to take you but I can’t, I really can’t. So do me a favor and become stronger for me, and I’ll come back for you. I promise I will.”_

Kenny felt his heart ache at the memory, unconsciously feeling his chest. Why was he remembering this? It didn’t make sense to him. Why was he remembering that boy now? The boy who he once knew, the boy who promised to protect him? Why didn’t he come back?

His hand became a fist, Kenny’s eyes gazing at the castle ruins before stepping forward, heading for the castle. He pulled out the dagger from his pocket and held it close to him, the metal shining in the setting sun. He wanted answers. Was the demon lord giving him these memories, or was this something else?

As they climbed to the top of the mountain, Kenny stewing in his own growing resentment. This demon lord stolen his friends, the only people that he cared about, all for Kenny’s magic. Every step that was taken seemed to be steeped in some sort of determination, pure magic seeping from his footfalls, leaving moss from every step he had taken. Rhys kept close to him, feeling the witch’s magic radiating off of his person. Neither of them said anything.

All Kenny wanted was answers. He wanted his friends back. He wanted to know why he was remembering something he had forgotten. Everything had to be connected.

Once he made it to the doors he nearly kicked them down, the wood making a creaking noise as it was forced open. “I’m here, motherfucker!” His voice was loud, the man storming into the entranceway only to pause, taking in everything. While the outside looked worn down and torn apart the inside was a different story. It was almost like the ruins were a farce, hiding the eloquent beauty that was the inner castle. Dark stone that held warmth to it, magic circulating the inner sanctum. Bookshelves filled with old tomes, no dust in sight. Furniture and decorations that were aged yet stood the test of time. It was like it wasn’t ever abandoned.

Kenny stepped further inside, looking around. “Where are you?” He continued to move, making his way through the doors, the rooms, while filled with light, empty.

“My love?”

Kenny whirled around and headed to the room he could make the voice from, keeping the dagger in his hand as he shoved the heavy door open. Across the room, sitting on the desk, was the demon lord, his eyes wide at the sight of Kenny as a smile formed on his face, “You’ve come.”

“Of course I’ve came.” Kenny glared at him, “Im here for my friends. Why did you take them?”

“Well at first I took that one guy just to get you here but he kept talking about his lover so I decided to scoop him up so they could be together.” The demon smiled slightly.

“What about Isiah, Jaiden and Shelby? What about everyone else?” Kenny’s fist was shaking, “Did you take them too?”

The demon had a quizzical look about him at the mention of his other friends. “I didn't take them.”

“You liar!” Kenny cried out. “You took them!”

“I only took the other two, I swear!” He cried out defensively.

“And the town?”

“I placed the town under a spell, everyone there is safe, you all were in a copy of the town.how else was I supposed to do contact you? Remember, you have a short attention span.”

Kenny blinked, trying not to become emotional. “Why do you talk like you know me? I never met you...”

“We know each other, mi amor. We have for years. Please don't tell me you forgot about our promise…” The demon trailed off, watching Kenny. He could see the magic. “No. This isn’t…" He took a step forward. “Someones been clouding your memory.” He continued to step closer but Kenny raised his dagger in defense. The demon stopped. “ My love, don't you know who I am?”

“Don’t trust him Kenny!” Rhys’s voice cut into the conversation as the fox demon stepped into the room. The dark-haired demon stilled, realization etching onto his face before his eyes began to narrow.

“ _You._ ” He hissed out. “The fox tribe, I should have known. Of course he doesn’t recognize me, you’ve been using your magic to make him forget.”

Rhys smirked, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, you’re the demon that’s full of lies. You’re only after Kenny’s magic.”

The demon lord took a step back, “My love—please, you’re being tricked. This fox is the real one deceiving you!”

Kenny looked from Rhys and back to the demon lord, watching how the man looked troubled. He lowered his dagger in confusion. “What?”

“He’s the head of the fox tribe! I know him personally, he’s a master at deception. Mi amor, please—“

Kenny rose his hand to his head, “Stop calling me that!” He cried out, “My love, my love, mi amor, why the fuck do you keep calling me that? What am I to you?”

The demon lord frowned, “What are you to me? You’re ▇▇▇. I protected you when things became bad… it’s me, ▇▇▇, Damien.”

_“Damien I’m scared.”_

_The boy curled his arms around the girl as she hid under the bed, the lights to her room were off, but she was still awake, and so was the girl’s mother. They both could hear her, yelling from the other room. The girl curled into the boy’s grasp. “I don’t like it here.” She whispered._

_“You’re okay, you’re safe.” The boy cooed, “Remember, the darkness is your friend. The demons will protect you.”_

_She frowned, looking at his glowing red eyes, “Because you’re a demon, right?”_

_He smiled, “Right! If anything happens to you me or my kind will deal with it. I know you’re afraid of the dark, but you have to be strong, the dark is more secure than the light…okay?”_

_Th girl nodded, covering her mouth as the door began to open._

_Damien curled his arms more securely around her, “I’m here.” He whispered._

Kenny went still, the memory running through his mind like a movie. He couldn’t stop looking at the demon lord now, recognizing the familiarity of his features. “Damien?”

“We promised to grow strong for each other.” He said then, taking a step forward. “I left to fight for my title, so I could be worthy of you when we met again, but when I returned, you were gone…I couldn’t find you.” His eyes went to Rhys, “And now I know why. His magic had been hiding you from me.” He pointed to the fox demon, “I should have known he was involved, because he told me himself that he was going to get what he deserved.”

Kenny looked at Rhys, then back at Damien, taking a step from them both. “What did he want?”

“He was the one promised to your mother.” Damien said to him, “Though when she left he decided to go to war onto the Clan Rosales. They were near death when I came here, and I made sure to take them somewhere safe in case he returned. If I knew he was going to come after you…”

“Kenny, remember what I told you, the demon lord only knows lies.” Rhys said to Kenny, taking a step forward.

“Haven’t you wondered why you and him became close so quickly?” Damien spoke up, “Foxes are deceptive demons by nature.”

Kenny had to think. It wasn’t like him to make friends with anyone so quickly. He didn’t make any friends at all due to his background. People were fond of using him and casting him aside, especially when he was younger. Hell, he was still guarded around the people he worked with—but somehow Rhys just seeped through his defenses quickly. They grew close within a month, so much so that…

Kenny looked up at Rhys, remembering that night together. He turned his attention to Damien, “Why did you take my friends?”

Damien frowned, “I only took Avery, you can check yourself, he’s in the next room with his lover. I only took them to get your attention.” Damien pointed to a door, and Kenny followed, his legs automatically moving towards the door.

Rhys looked disturbed, “Don’t believe him, Kenny, it’s a trap.”

Kenny stopped, turning to him, “If Avery isn’t in that room then I know what I’m doing next.” He continued his way over, taking a hold of the door knob.

There was a light giggle coming from the other side of the door and Kenny pulled on the handle, his eyes widening as he saw—

There was a scream, and Kenny covered his eyes. “Sorry!”

“At least knock first!” Avery shouted, covering himself with a blanket, subsequently covering Elijah as he had done so. Elijah scrambled his way out of the blanket and peeked out at Kenny.

“I don’t mind anyone watching, Master. ♡”

Avery couldn’t get any redder, shooting a glare at Kenny, “Get the fuck out of here.”

Kenny shut the door quickly, breathing out a laugh that only grew in intensity. It ended in a flurry of giggles as he stepped away from the door. “Oh…man.”

Rhys didn’t look amused, “How can you be sure that wasn’t a trick?”

“Oh will you just stop it?” Damien glared at him, “I just gave my love proof that I’m not lying and you’re still intent on going with this?” He turned to Kenny, “If you want to know who’s really after your magic, then it’s the fox boy. He’s been upset since the day that your mom decided to leave the island to pursue something different.”

Kenny took a breath, looking over at Rhys. He had no reason to not believe Damien if Avery and Elijah were okay, but what about his other friends? He thought about it, his eyes going back to Damien. “Are you sure you didn’t take the rest of my friends?”

“I wouldn’t lie to you.” Damien said to him, “That would be him.”

Kenny’s attention went back to Rhys, “I’m giving you a chance to prove yourself.”

There was a minute of silence as the three of them stood there, Damien and Kenny watching Rhys. The fox demon began to look annoyed.

“Why do you always listen to others more than me?”

“Huh?”

“It’s a constant.” Rhys spat. “You listen to other people more than me. You often ignore what I’m saying to pay attention to _them_. Do you know how infuriating it is to always be the last one that’s listened to? If you’re wondering if I took them, I only did it so you would pay attention to me. If they weren’t around, then I would have your attention!” He paused, “But I don’t, do I? Your mind is still distracted by _him_!” He pointed to Damien. “How many people do I need to remove from your view to get your focus?”

Damien folded his arms, smirking slowly, “Ah, there we go. I had a feeling that jealousy would come kicking in.” He cast his eyes onto Kenny, “There’s the real face of your friend.”

“I’ve HAD IT!” Rhys raised his hand, creating a flame in his palm and throwing it at Damien. Damien raised his hand to deflect the fire but it went for his wrists instead, binding him.

“Kenny!”

Kenny took a step towards Damien but fire erupted around him, “Damien!” He cried.

“Don’t allow him to use your magic.” Damien shouted, “He has eight tails, he needs the boost to get his ninth. Once he gets his ninth then he won’t be stopped. That’s all he wants from you.”

“Now that’s full of shit. I don’t want just Kenny’s magic.” Rhys smiled evilly, “I want Kenny himself, all I have to do is remove these foreign influences from his life and I could finally get my way!”

Kenny felt his magic thrumming in his hands, sparks popping off from his fingertips. “If you think I’m letting that happen then you’re as stupid as you look. You should know me by now, Rhys, I hate being used.”

“Do you honestly think that I’m using you?” Rhys laughed darkly, “I’m the only one you can trust. I did you a favor, Kenny, none of those simpletons know the real you. They don’t care about you. They’re not your real friends. They don’t appreciate who you are.”

Kenny grit his teeth, “That’s a lie and you know it!” His voice raised, and he grasped his dagger, running toward him.

Rhys leaped back, clapping his hands together, enveloping Kenny into pure blackness. Kenny stopped moving, hearing whispers. He turned, and suddenly he was met with Willow, and beside her was Renzo, Jaiden, Isiah, Renzo, Thomas, every one of his friends standing in a circle, ending with Shelby. Kenny went still, seeing that they looked real.

“Guys—“

“He’s right you know.” Willow began, “We only tolerate you.”

“Yeah, you’re mostly fucking annoying.” Renzo added, “God, I can’t believe you think we like you. That’s sad.”

Kenny turned to face him, “Funny, huh?”

“There’s nothing funny about it, you dumb stupid bitch.” Jaiden bit out.

“Every time you’re not around we just talk about you, how you’re just so pathetic.” Isiah’s voice was cold, “You’re the real clown that we make fun of.”

They sounded real, and Kenny could feel his heart aching as all of his insecurities were brought to light. How they all knew what he really hated to think about, how maybe this was actually them speaking their mind. He didn’t like it. No, he hated it. He hated everything about this. Was this what they really thought or was this fake? It sounded too real to be fake…

“This isn’t—“

“How about you just kill yourself and save us the trouble.” Thomas interrupted him, his cold voice stabbing through Kenny’s heart.

“That’s all you have to do.” Shelby was the last to speak, stepping forward to take Kenny’s hand. “You have the weapon. All you have to do is slit your throat. We’ll appreciate watching you die.”

Kenny’s other hand gripped his dagger and he looked directly into Shelby’s eyes, her words having hurt him the most. He sucked back the urge to cry, his hand shaking. The longer he stared at her, though, the more he could catch how she was grinning.

She never grinned like that.

No, this wasn’t her. This wasn’t real.

None of them were real.

“This isn’t you.” Kenny managed to get out, his voice wavering. “You’re not REAL!”

He lunged at Shelby and drove the dagger into her chest, his hand becoming bloody from the rush of liquid that spewed fourth. Shelby began to scream, her voice seeming to flicker from the feminine cry to something more masculine. His friends slowly vanished one by one until Shelby was left, her image flickering.

Kenny stepped back on reflex, seeing that he didn’t stab Shelby, but Rhys.

“You fucking bitch!” The fox demon hissed out, grasping the dagger that was plunged in his chest. “This is all your fault!” He snarled.

“He’s not immortal!” Damien cried out from his binds, “You need to incapacitate him!”

Kenny looked from Damien back to Rhys, then at the door that led to Avery and Elijah. What would Avery do?

Rhys gripped his hand onto the dagger, trying to pull it out, “I’m going to take your magic and kill you with it—“

“Not if I kill you first.” Kenny lifted his foot up and kicked Rhys onto his back, stepping over him and using his foot to shove the dagger into the demon’s chest fully, causing the demon to scream. “I think I know what to do with you.” He removed his foot and crouched down, reaching out to remove the dagger. When it was removed, blood surged forth from the wound. Kenny smiled slowly and pressed his hand over the wound, humming.

Kenny’s magic projected out, and whatever blood that had leaked out of Rhys began to warp into rose petals at the witch's touch. Rhys’s eyes widened as he felt it inside of him, his blood becoming petals, making him cry out in agony as petals overtook his body, his heart bursting from the inside to make way for a blossomed rose covered in vines.

The fire that held Damien had slowly disintegrated after that, the demon grinning widely as he ran over to Kenny. “You literally turned his blood into roses.”

“Plant magic, right?” Kenny smiled, feeling the fog on his memories lift. His eyes found Damien’s, everything coming back to him. “Am I strong now?”

Damien smiled, moving forward to kiss him. “Stronger than you ever were.”

From Rhys’s wrist, a gleaming beaded bracelet caught Kenny’s attention. He crouched down and took the bracelet off, curiously staring at the beads. He could make out his friends inside of those beads, moving around in their wait to be released. “I think I found my friends.” He said then.

Damien took the bracelet, smiling. “Let’s get them out, I’m sure they need the fresh air.”

♥♥♥

“Rhys was WHAT?”

“A fox demon.” Kenny shrugged.

“Let me guess, he was the true villain.” Isiah spoke up, the entire group making their way through the path that led back to the village. “I coulda told you that, fox demons are known for their deception and illusion magic.”

“Look at that fellas, a genuine weeb.” Renzo smirked, “Anime nerds, right?”

“You watch anime.” Kenny pointed out.

“Yeah, and? I’m not a weeb.”

“Get on an otaku’s level.” Willow smiled, “Great job for getting us out Kenny, you really saved the day!”

“Yeah, so what did he do to try and stop you?” Shelby was curious, but Kenny didn’t say anything. No, he didn’t want to tell them about what their illusions had said to him.

“Normal anime villain shit,” he said instead of the truth, because they didn’t need to know that detail. A hand found his own, Damien’s fingers interlacing with Kenny’s in a show of support. Kenny smiled.

“So, you two are like childhood sweethearts right?” Jaiden asked.

“How did you know?” Damien asked.

“The way you two look at eachother—oh—“

Kenny blushed and looked away, “You could say that.”

“So we just traded in Rhys for this chap then.” Thomas sized Damien up with his eyes, “Good, I didn’t like Rhys. He was a mong.”

“He was so creepy, staring at Kenny so much.” Shelby said then, “If I knew what I knew I woulda stabbed him. Ugh I can’t believe I told you to hit that!”

“Well, he’s gone now.” Kenny smiled slightly.

“I believe we had enough.” Avery said then, “What do you guys think, do we stay here for the rest of the week or do we go back home and try to put this behind us?”

“Either way I’m not going anywhere without my love.” Damien cooed.

“Cute. I wanna relax until I gotta go back home.” Willow said, “Are we done with this witchy adventure? Because I don’t really care for it.”

“I think we’re done.” Kenny breathed.

“Ayo let’s hit up that restaurant like we were gonna do before this shit happened.” Renzo could make out the populated town up ahead. “Hey the people are back!”

“They weren’t really gone to begin with.” Damien said honestly.

“Does that mean we just raided a kind woman’s shop and stole her stuff?” Kenny asked, “Because if we did I think we should go back.”

Renzo lifted the axe in his hand, “But I wanna keep it.”

“I think we should all go back to that shop and apologize.” Isiah scolded, “Kenny and Damien over there can explain the whole thing.”

Kenny thought for a moment, looking at Damien, “Why didn’t you approach me like a normal person?”

“Rhys had you under some sort of protection.” He explained, “I couldn’t get to you any other way.”

“So when you came to me in my sleep—“

He smiled, “Remember? I’m a dream demon. When you entered through the island barrier I suddenly found you.”

Near the entrance of the town Avery stopped, “I believe we all deserve some rest after whatever shit we were just pulled into.”

“That’s for you to say, you got to have sex the whole time we were trapped in beads.” Willow argued, “Don’t you act like you were suffering.”

Elijah smiled slowly and Avery looked away from Willow, coughing softly into his hand, “I’ll pay the restaurant tab.” He mumbled, “Buy anything you want.”

“Bet.” Shelby stepped forward, until stopping and turning back. “…where’s Jaiden?”

Everyone stopped, looking around for the aforementioned woman.

“Who’s a good doggie?” Jaiden cooed at the small terrier, both of them at the cusp of the forest, the woman having forgotten about the group entirely to pay attention to this one cute dog. She was crouched next to it, scratching his belly as it wiggled around and wagged its tail happily. “Yeah that’s right, you’re a good doggie.” She giggled to herself, “Doggie.”

“Ah, that’s where you went!”

A smooth British voice had caught Jaiden’s attention and she turned, catching sight of an Adonis of a man, milk chocolate skin glistening in the sun. His hair was blonde, held back by clips and dark tattoos adorned his arms and curled to his exposed chest. Jaiden’s eyes lingered at his six-pack before trailing up to the man’s face, noticing that he had an eyepatch over his left eye. “Is this your dog?” Her voice turned soft and kind, a smile appearing on her face.

The man nodded, moving to crouch down and pick the dog up into his arms. “He always gets away from me.” He said as he scratched the dog’s side. “Excuse me, where’re my manners. I’m Domino. You don’t look native to this island.”

“I’m not.” Jaiden stood back up as Domino had, smiling at him. “My name’s Jaiden.”

He smiled, “What a lovely name to a lovely looking lady.”

“Are you hitting on me so quickly?” She hid her smile.

“That depends on if you want to join me for some tea.” He flashed her a seductive smile.

“I would love to!”

_I’m going to ruin this man’s whole career_ , Jaiden thought to herself.

End.


End file.
